The Rows of a Spreadsheet

Rows Fundamentals

 

Introduction to Rows

In the previous lesson, we saw that a spreadsheet organizes its information in categories called columns. To show the values in a spreadsheet, each column holds a particular value that corresponds to another value in the same horizontal range. While the values under a column should (in most cases must) be the same, the values in a horizontal range can be different. The group of values that correspond to the same horizontal arrangement is called a row. Consider the following list we introduced in the previous lesson:

First Name Last Name English History Geography Math Chemistry Physics Roland Becker 10.50 12.00 12.00 16.50 16.75 14.00 Chrissy Groans 12.00 14.50 14.00 12.75 12.00 10.50 Robert Farell 16.00 15.50 16.50 14.50 14.00 15.50 Alexa Schwitts 15.50 14.00 16.00 16.50 13.50 14.25 This contains many rows. The first row contains the values Roland, Becker, 10.50, 12.00, 12.00, 16.50, 16.75, and 14.00. The second row contains the values Chrissy, Groans, 12.00, 14.50, 14.00, 12.75, 12.00, and 10.50. As you can see, the list contains many rows and each row has its own values. Although each row in the above list has a value for each column, it is not unusual to have empty areas under a certain column and sometimes a row would even have only one value even though there are many columns available. As a spreadsheet application, when Microsoft Excel starts it creates the rows you will need. As a matter of fact, Microsoft Office Excel 2007 creates 1,048,576 rows. Like the columns, each row is labeled. The rows are labeled from Row 1 to Row 1048576. These labels show on small boxes on the left side of the Microsoft Excel interface. Each box that shows the label of a row is called a row header: You can use just a few of the rows for your assignment but all of them are always available. When using a row, you can click it or use the keyboard to get to it. You can also right-click a row. When you do this, a menu would appear: Rows Selections As done with columns, you can select one row or a group of rows. You can also select rows at random. You can perform selections using the mouse, the keyboard, or a combination of both. You can use only the mouse to select rows: To select a row using the mouse, position the mouse on a row header. The mouse cursor would change into a right-pointing arrow. Then click:   To select a range of rows using the mouse, click one row header and hold the mouse down. Then drag in the direction of the range: You can also use only the keyboard To select a row using the keyboard, make sure a box on its right side is selected (in the next lesson, we will learn that you can press the arrow keys to select one of those boxes). Press and hold Shift. While Shift is still down, press the Space bar and release Shift To select many rows using only the keyboard, use the above technique to select the starting row. Press and hold Shift, then press either the up or the down arrow key. When the range of rows has been selected, release Shift You can also use a combination of the mouse and the keyboard to select one or more rows: To select a range of rows using a combination of the mouse and the keyboard, click one row at one end of the desired range. Press and hold Shift. Then click the row at the other end, and release the mouse. To select rows at random using a combination of the mouse and the keyboard, click one row header, press and hold Ctrl. Then click each desired row header. When you have selected the desired rows, release the mouse. Each row selected would be highlighted:   Practical Learning: Selecting Rows Open the RTHS3.xlsx file To select a row, click the row header 5 To select more than one row, click row 8 and hold the mouse down. While the mouse is still down, move it down until row 12 is selected Release the mouse Click any box on the right side of Row Header 14 To select a row, for example row 14, press Shift + Space To deselect, press Ctrl + Home The Heights of Rows   Introduction To display the contents of boxes on its right, a row uses a certain height. The height is the distance from the top to the lower borders of the row. There are various techniques you can use to change the height of a row, using approximations or being precise. Manually Heightening or Shrinking the Rows To manually change the height of a row, position the mouse on the lower border that separates it from the next row (unless it is the last row). Here is an example: Click, then drag up or down until you get the desired height, then release the mouse. You can also resize a group of rows. First, select the rows as we described above. Then position the mouse on the bottom border of one of the selected rows. Click and drag up or down in the direction of your choice until you get the desired height. Then release the mouse. To undo this action: On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Undo button Press Ctrl + Z Practical Learning: Controlling the Heights of Rows Position the mouse between Row Headers 2 and 3 until the mouse turns into a short line with double vertical arrows Then double-click. That resizes Row 2 Position the mouse on the separator of Row Headers 3 and 4, then click and drag up until the small box displays Width: 2.25 To save the workbook, press Ctrl + S Automatically Setting the Heights of Rows If one of the boxes on the right side of a row header is too short or too tall, you can change the height of the row. To do this: Double-click the bottom border of the row Click the row header or a box on that row. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Format and click AutoFit Row Height: To undo any of these actions: On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Undo button Press Ctrl + Z Practical Learning: Automatically Resizing the Columns Click Row Header 5 On the Ribbon, click Home if necessary. In the Cells section, click the Format button, and click AutoFit Row Height Press Ctrl + Home Save the document Setting the Height Values of Rows You can use a dialog box to set exactly the desired height of a row or a group of rows. To specify the height of a row: Right-click the row header and click Row Height... Click a row header or any box on its right side. Then, on the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Format and click Row Height... To specify the same height for many rows: Select a range of rows as we saw earlier. Right-click one of the rows (either one of the row headers or inside the selection) and click Row Height... Randomly select a group of (non-adjacent) rows. Right-click one of the row headers and click Row Height... Select the rows. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Format and click Row Height... This would call the Row Height dialog box where you can type the desired value and click OK or press Enter. To undo any of these actions: On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Undo button Press Ctrl + Z Practical Learning: Setting the Width of Columns Right-click Row Header 6 and click Row Height... Type 1 and Click OK Press Ctrl + Home Save the file Container Operations on Rows   Adding a New Row In our introduction, we saw that Microsoft Excel creates and makes available over a million rows you can use when working on a spreadsheet. In the next lesson, we will see that you can use the boxes on the right sides of the row headers to create the necessary values of your spreadsheet. One of the result is that, at times, you will want to create a row between two existing rows. Microsoft Excel provides all the means you need to add one or more new rows to a list. When you add a new row, Microsoft Excel removes the last row to keep the count to 1,048,576. You can only insert a new row above an existing one. To insert a new row: Right-click the row header that will be below the new one you want to add, and click Insert Click the row header or any box on the right side. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click the arrow under Insert and click Insert Sheet Rows To add more than one row, first select the rows, whether in a range or randomly. Then: Right-click one of the rows (whether one of the row headers or a box of one of the selected rows) that will be below the selected rows, and click Insert (After selecting the rows,) On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click the arrow button Insert and click Insert Sheet Rows If you select rows randomly (non-adjacent), a new row would be created below each of the selected rows. To undo any of these actions: On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Undo button Press Ctrl + Z Practical Learning: Adding Columns Right-click Column Header 1 and click Insert Press Ctrl + Home Deleting a Row If you have a row you do not need anymore, you can delete it. To delete a row: Right-click the row header and click Delete Click the row header or any box on its right side. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Delete and click Delete Sheet Rows To delete more than one row, first select the rows, whether in a range or randomly. Then: Right-click one of the rows (whether one of the row headers or a box on the right side of one of the selected rows) and click Delete (After selecting the rows,) On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Delete and click Delete Sheet Rows To undo any of these actions: On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Undo button Press Ctrl + Z Practical Learning: Deleting Columns Right-click Row Header 1 and click Delete Click Row Header 4 On the Ribbon, click Home if necessary. In the Cells section, click the Delete button (or click the arrow under the Delete button and click Delete Sheet Rows) Press Ctrl + Home Moving Rows As reviewed for a columns, a row can be treated as a container of values. As such, it can be moved from its current location to another and would carry all the values on the right side of its row header. To move a row, first click its row header to select it. Position the mouse on one of the horizontal lines of the selected row: Click and hold your mouse down. Drag up or down. Two horizontal lines would guide you. When you get the row to the desired location, release the mouse. When you move a row, its boxes move but it assumes the appropriated number based on its new location so the numeric sequence would be kept. To move a group of rows, select them. Position the mouse on one of the horizontal lines of the selection: Click and hold your mouse down. Drag up or down. Horizontal lines would guide you. When you get the rows to the desired location, release the mouse. When you move the rows, their boxes move but they assume the numbers of the new location with the appropriate numeric sequence. Copying and Pasting Rows When moving one or more rows, their location changes and they keep the values on the right sides of their row headers. Sometimes, you may not want to move the row(s) but only their values. This means that you can copy the rows to the clipboard and paste them where you want. To copy a row to the clipboard: Right-click the row header and click Copy Click the row header. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Clipboard section, click Copy After copying a row to the clipboard, all of its values are made available. To put those values on another row: Right-click the target row header and click Paste Click the row header. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Clipboard section, click Paste Cutting the Contents of Rows Instead of moving a row and its values, you can instead moving only its values but keep the row wherever it is located. To support this operation, you can cut a row to the clipboard and paste its values to another row. To temporarily move a row to the clipboard to wait to be pasted: Right-click the row header and click Cut Click the row header. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Clipboard section, click Cut After cutting a row to the clipboard, if you do not want to paste it anywhere, you can press Esc. If you want to paste it to another row: Right-click the target row header and click Paste Click the row header. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Clipboard section, click Paste To temporarily move the contents of many rows to the clipboard to wait to be pasted, select the rows as we saw earlier. Then: Right-click either one of the row headers or inside the selection, and click Cut On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Clipboard section, click Cut If you want to paste the values to another group of rows: Right-click a target row header and click Paste Click a row header. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Clipboard section, click Paste When you paste, the values of the boxes under the original rows would be emptied. Hiding and Revealing Rows The rows of a list display their values as necessary. Sometimes, you may not need to see all the rows. You can display some of the rows you need and (temporarily) hide those you do not need. You can hide one row or you can hide as many as you want. To hide a row: Right-click the row and click Hide Click the row header. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Format, position the mouse on Hide & Unhide, and click Hide Rows When a row has been hidden, its row header disappears from the numeric sequence and the line between the previous neighbors is thicker than the other dividing lines. To hide many rows, select the rows. Then: Right-click one of the row headers or inside the selection and click Hide On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Format, position the mouse on Hide & Unhide, and click Hide Rows To reveal the hidden rows: Right-click any row header and click Unhide On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Cells section, click Format, position the mouse on Hide & Unhide, and click Unhide Rows Freezing One or More Rows When using a long list, you can scroll up and down as necessary. While scrolling down, some rows would be disappearing from the top. When scrolling down, some rows would disappear from the bottom. If you want, you can freeze a row so that, when you scroll down, a top row the rows above it would not move. To freeze a row, click the row header of the row that will lead the moving rows. On the Ribbon, click View. In the Window section, click Freeze Panes, and click Freeze Panes. Practical Learning: Freezing a Row Click Row Header 6 On the Ribbon, click View In the Window section, click the Freeze Panes button and click Freeze Panes Press Ctrl + Home Scroll down to Row 76: In the Window section of the Ribbon, click Freeze Panes and click Unfreeze Panes Splitting the Rows Instead of freezing the rows, you can divide the Microsoft Excel series of rows into two groups. Then you can scroll one group while the other is fixed. To split the rows in two groups, click a row header. On the ribbon, click View. In the Window section, click Split. This would display a bar. As mentioned for the columns, the similarities between the freezing and splitting are as follows: The rows are divided in two groups The user can scroll the rows from the bottom side of the divider The differences between the freezing and splitting are as follows: If you freeze a row, you can scroll the rows below the frozen line but you cannot scroll the rows above the frozen line. If you split the rows, you can scroll the rows from either the top or the bottom side of the splitting bar If you freeze a row, you cannot move the freezing line to another row (you would have to unfreeze the row, then re-freeze). If you split the rows, you can move the splitting bar up or down If you freeze a row, to remove the frozen line, you use the Ribbon. If you split the rows, to remove the splitting line, you can double-click it or, in the Window section of the View tab of the Ribbon, you can click the Split button Practical Learning: Splitting the Rows Click Row Header 21 In the Window section of the Ribbon, click the Split button Press Ctrl + Home Position the mouse on the split bar   Scroll in the top frame Scroll in the bottom frame In the Window section of the Ribbon, click the Split button Close Microsoft Excel. If asked whether you want to save, click Yes